sábado, 19 de enero de 2013

UK snow: Warnings of more severe weather and icy conditions - BBC News

More snow has fallen overnight in parts of north-east England, eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

After snowfall around the UK disrupted travel on Friday, the forecast is for freezing temperatures that could make ice a problem on Saturday.

At London's Heathrow Airport, some delayed British Airways passengers have been kept on planes awaiting take-off slots.

More than 400 flights were cancelled at the airport on Friday.

Heathrow bosses were forced to close a runway to de-ice it, as the airport's usual number of 42 take-off and landing slots an hour was reduced to six at one point - and an average of 26 for most of the day.

British Airways warned of further delays on Saturday due to the backlog of Friday's services.

On Twitter overnight, England cricketer Stuart Broad reported that, after the flight he had boarded was cancelled, passengers had to wait to leave the plane because Heathrow was considered full.

A couple of hours later, he tweeted: "Well. Off the plane, collecting luggage, through immigration and having to find a way into London and a hotel. Won't be seeing India 2moro!!"

Drifting snow

The Met Office has issued a yellow warning, which means be aware, for ice across much of the UK. It is also warning people to be prepared for snow in Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland, north-east England and Yorkshire and Humber.

Friday's snowfall reached 26cm (10in) in Sennybridge, in Powys, while elsewhere there was 16cm in Filton, near Bristol, 12cm in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, and 10cm in Nottingham, according to the BBC Weather Centre.

Forecaster Mike Silverstone said the snow was easing in most places, although Saturday would see light flurries.

The heavy snow forecast across parts of north-east England, eastern Scotland and Northern Ireland could bring 5-10cm, he said, but would ease through Saturday.

"Most places will be around or below freezing, so there will be no or little thaw," he added. "There will be quite a breeze, which means there could be drifting of lying snow in places."

More than 3,000 schools in England, Wales and Scotland were closed on Friday because of snow.

In County Down, some 2,400 households have been left without power owing to the severe weather.

Other airports, many major roads, the rail network and Eurostar services suffered disruption on Friday, but transport minister Stephen Hammond said transport authorities had responded well.

In the early hours of Saturday, the M48 Severn Bridge, in Monmouthshire, and a section of the M48 in Gloucestershire were closed because of snow.

The RAC said it had rescued a number of stranded motorists in west Wales and parts of Wiltshire, South Gloucestershire and Hampshire on Friday, while the AA said it had received about 900 calls an hour from stranded drivers in England and Wales.

A 16-year-old girl was airlifted to hospital with serious head and back injuries after a snowboarding accident near Wrightington, Lancashire.

In Shropshire, snow forced the Telford ski centre to close its artificial ski slope.

The wintry weather has led to the postponement of a number of the weekend's football matches, including Friday night's Conference fixture between Braintree and Grimsby, and six matches in League One, five in League Two and one league match in Scotland on Saturday.

The BBC's Mr Silverstone said that Sunday would see mostly light snow confined to the southern half of the UK, adding: "But we could see something a bit heavier in the south-eastern corner."

For more information on the weather and transport situation in your area, visit the BBC Weather website and BBC Travel News.

Have you been affected by the snow? Are you making preparations for the coming days? Please send us your comments using the form below.

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